One year I talked to the Fraud Division and the Child Care Subsidy unit about investigating licensed child care home provider Connie King in Clark County.
I found records where King reported to another state agency she made $2280.50 in June 2004 and worked 160 hours a month. But she did 24 hour day care? The child care subsidy records showed she collected $7,421.00 from child care subsidy in that same month of June 2004. This was the provider I conducted a complaint investigation on in September 2004 who hid 8 children upstairs including 2 babies in unlicensed space; and had a total of 21 children (only licensed for 12) on the premises in that moment; and was the only adult in the home. She was also collecting "fee activity" money for taking the children to McDonald's.
What did I find out? Providers weren't required to send copies of sign in and out attendance sheets with their billing. They just had to put a number in a box on the printed form. Child Care Subsidy program did no investigations of possible concerns, that's what licensing was for I was told or go to the Fraud Division.
With the fraud division I learned being overcapacity was not an issue under their regulations if King, indeed, had 21 children in care at one time and they were all on subsidy. It only became an issue if there weren't 21 children in care at that particular time.
I requested of my supervisor, Darcy Taylor, to be allowed to make a monitor visit on the weekend. She said no.
King's license per RCW and WAC was required to have been revoked in September 2004. This provider was on the "high risk targeted monitor project" that started in January 2005 by the director of the child care licensing agency, Rachael Langen; and then melted away very quickly.
I documented my assessment that her license be revoked in February 2005. I made a number of whistle blower reports that year regarding supervisor, Darcy Taylor, the regional manager and director not taking action as required by RCW and WAC on this and other facilities (as well as them concealing, directing staff what to write in a new SER (the written record on a file) and then having the original SER destroyed in violation of law). That investigation remains open until the State Auditor writes his report.
The pattern of complaints and non-compliance continued. It wasn't until July 2006 her license was revoked. Almost 2 years later.
What does the legislature do with managing the budget? DEL salaries were greatly upped in 2006. Amy Blondin, the Communications Manager who makes $93,000.00 a year with great benefits told King 5 News:
"Now our job is to go in regularly and monitor and make sure they are offering safe and healthy care." What Blondin didn't say is that "regularly" means once every 18 months for family homes, and not at night or on the weekends. If she has data otherwise she should disclose those records to the legislature, King 5 and the public now, please.
"Blondin also points out the big earners may be paying licensed assistants to meet staffing levels." "may be" Again for a family home provider who made $232,000.00 in one year why doesn't this unelected bureaucratic communications manager know that?
Remember the term "sliding fee scale"? In days past before the cash cow that is government grew bigger and bigger there was the concept of community and sliding fee scale.
Also I think it's notable that the junk bond king, Michael Milkin, who went to prison for fraud, got into the daycare business starting back in 1998. Then SEIU has been busy the last number of years bringing their feeding trough to the legislature to get some of that rich tax payer money that was floating around. Andy Stern, the now former president of the SEIU venture, had been a former social worker inside his unelected government bureaucracy and saw the cash cow there.
Perhaps some of these cash cows need to be put out to pasture?
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